CW Land Democratic Republic's Spas Delev has landed the first Grand Slam blow against their bitter Western rivals by upsetting 29th seed Jojo Mustard in the 3rd round of the Australian open overnight. Confidence was high on the western side of the Great CW Wall after Mustard took the first set 6-4, as things looked to be going as planned. Delev, however, had other plans, as the temperamental bulgarian-born Easterner upped the ante to claim the second set in impressive fashion 6-3. From there on in, it was the diminutive world no.73 who controlled the outcome of the match eventually winning in 4, 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-3.

Delev was not without his troubles though, almost blowing it in what was the most important game of the match. A 1 set a piece, and serving for the 3rd at 5-4, Delev handed Jojo 3 break back points, only for the 29th seed to live up to his "Mustard" name and waste his chance to regain the ascendency as Spas saved all 3 break points and served it out to take the set 6-4. The spectators could have been forgiven at times for thinking that this was actually a re-enactment of the now defunct womens tour, as both players struggled to hold serve at crucial moments throughout the course of the match.

Speaking with Delev after the match, the Davistow resident felt he had all but broken the resolve of Mustard after that vital last game of the 3rd set.

"I felt pretty nervous out there serving to close out the 3rd, and the double first up certainly didn't help! I knew though, even whilst facing 3 break points, that Jojo didn't have the topki to hold his nerve and break back at such a vital moment in the match"

"Once I had it back to 30-40 I could see he was broken, and that the set, and match, was mine for the taking. Not to say the final set didn't have it's moments though, but I knew I had it in me, this one's for Nykänen"

"Altman will be a tough opponent in the 4th, he's the 9th seed, and has a vastly different style of play to mine, but I'm up for the challenge, bring it on!

Last edited by Johnners; 29-01-2010 at 11:50 PM.

Originally Posted by Jono

Mitch Johnson is ****ing awesome for cricket.

Originally Posted by pasag

Ponting's ability to ton up in the first innings of a series should not be understated. So much pressure, so important. What a great!

Australian Open 29th seed JoJo Mustard has congratulated Spas Delev on his third round victory in a hard fought four set affair. In the post match interview Mustard said he felt the pressure of the bitter West v East rivalry, but still felt he had the game to defeat Delev.

"I'll admit I felt some pressure as this was the first West v East rivalry at a grand slam, I really wanted the West to come out on top." Mustard said.

"I really thought I had the upper hand in the first set, and I was really confident, but to Spas' credit he hit back hard and in the end he was more aggressive and that is what got him the money."

Asked if he felt that playing doubles together in Sydney had given Delev an insight into his play Mustard quipped that he would have preferred to see Delev use that aggression during their doubles campaign.

"I don't know that he picked up any sort of weakness on my part during Sydney, but we sure as hell would have won the tournament if he had of been that aggressive. I guess he was holding out on me..."

Mustard will now turn his attention to the doubles draw where he and familiar partner Heath Davis will attempt to win their second grand slam.

The color of immortality, nature and envy - you are truly a unique person. While clearly the color of nature, you also symbolize rebirth, fertility and hope in the world. On the other side of the spectrum, a natural aptitude to money with green coming to signify money and possibly even *********!

Aussie officials on alert for doubles flashpointSecurity bumped up in wake of East-West meeting

AUSTRALIAN officials are expected to increase security numbers at Sunday's doubles final by at least fifty per cent following news that West CWLand's Heath Davis and Jojo Mustard would appear in the match.

Coming from a set down to beat Italy's Sandro Bachunelli and Morocco's Hicham Hadir, the Federal Republic of CWLand's top team booked a showdown with the Democratic Republic of CWLand's top side Jefferson Drake and Martti Korpinen.

The showdown marks the second match between players from either side of the recently divided nation that experienced political turmoil late last year with the election the socialist East Democratic Party.

"We aren't privy to all the political happenings in CWLand, but we are obviously concerned about providing a good atmosphere for fans to watch the final in," head of security Doug Johns said. "Doubles tennis has received a great deal of popularity since its introduction to the ATP tour, and we need to protect the interests of a large crowd with a lot of families."

In the third round of the singles draw, a showdown between the CDR's Spas Delev and FRC's Jojo Mustard was marred by the ejection of eleven East CWLand nationals who continued the display to outside of the courts where they threw plastic chairs before being arrested.

"We've no doubt of the spirit the match will be played in, but the scenes last week and the stakes of this match have made it necessary to increase our personnel at the match."

September: Rivers 'Snubbed' For Davis CupOutspoken criticism of Western players

Western CWLand tennis pundit Jon September attempted to stir some pots as he mused on the selections for the sell-out Davis Cup play-off in Stedingham. In a national television programme yesterday, September stated that Scotland Rivers, the up-and-coming talent with a Challenger title and a share of the All-Island bronze medal, should have been a "nailed-on first" for the intra-island clash, despite the Western doubles players showing form in the second week of the Australian Open.

"Rivers' recent record speaks for itself," September noted. "He's beaten pretty much every Eastern player of note recently, and in the past three months you've had to be a world top ten player to beat him. He played excellent tennis in the nationals, took a set off one of the best players in the world in the Australian Open, and really appeared to take his chances even though it didn't quite come off against Páez. I think he has been snubbed and that the rankings can't really be trusted in this case."

Fans of the more established players of CWLand are expected to pour out considerable vitriol through their keyboards against this unorthodox statement, but nevertheless, since the end of the Shanghai Masters tournament Scotland Rivers has a 10-5 record in the major tournaments, including the intra-island championship. This compares very favourably to Jojo Mustard's 8-5, including a Slam defeat to the East's joker Spas Delev, and Heath Davis' 9-8 record. Only Sven Oxenstierna's 14-8 compares vaguely, and this is skewed by easy draws due to his high seeding.

September declined to comment on Rivers' lack of the in-vogue power game, choosing instead to wax lyrical about his consistent first serve and desire to attack the net. However, this style would have made it tough to find a court who would fit into all Western players' strengths, as the leading player, the dour accountant Oxenstierna, prefers slower surfaces and would like the ball to come on to his racket. Jojo Mustard is also a player who can do well on the slower courts, but is struggling for form at present. One nevertheless assumes that this is the choice of clay to be strewn on the arena in Stedingham, as a quick court would also play to the strengths of the Eastern No 1, the inimitable Jefferson Drake, who is reported to have grave doubts about his ability to play gruelling rallies on the clay courts.

September was also highly critical of the efforts of Mustard and Davis in the Melbourne season opener. The two, who worked their way up through the PTA ranks in the early season when ranking points were cheap, has seen considerable doubles success and two Grand Slam titles - a remarkable effort - but September thinks it has been to the detriment of their singles game.

"Anyone can see that," he claimed in the heated panel discussion on Channel Eleven's Tennis Week. "Davis had some bad luck with injuries but won a big tournament here in Pickford last year, then he goes to play doubles and bang, he starts losing to no-name Italians. As for Mustard, well, he's probably just lucky to have stayed clear of injuries. He should fall out of the seeds pretty soon I'll imagine, he has never won a tournament and doesn't really possess a serve to challenge the big boys. I guess they're happy playing doubles in front of three-digit crowds, and I suppose the doubles match is worth one point and we need someone to play Drake/Korpinen."

September was slightly more moderate in his criticism of Sven Oxenstierna, but noted that he needed to show some more flamboyance to defend his position as the island's number-one player.

Rumours are that the winning federation will be able to cash in several tens of millions of CWLand dollars (or several billions of People's dollars following recent hyperinflation) in sponsorships, ticket sales and TV rights for the Davis Cup clashes with big tennis nations such as the USA, Spain and Argentina, while the loser could face a struggle through unglamorous, but perhaps almost equally difficult, ties in Israel, Ukraine or F.Y.R. Macedonia.

The match, then, will have a high monetary value in addition to the huge amounts of political prestige already bearing on it; a number of Eastern politicians and government news outlets celebrated Delev's Slam victory over Mustard as a "victory for the system" but that the West were the only part of the island to be represented in the quarter-final of the tournament was only to be found in small print in the Worker's Daily.

Last edited by Samuel_Vimes; 16-02-2010 at 05:25 PM.

Founder of ESAS - Edgar Schiferli, the best associate bowler
A follower of the schools of Machiavelli, Bentham, Locke, Hobbes, Sutcliffe, Bradman, Lindwall, Miller, Hassett and Benaud
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when you're winning, you have friendsscores and dozens, real friendswhen you're winning, never lonelywhen you keep winning

Just last night I tuned into Week in Tennis and listened to 'pundit' Jon September lambaste interim West CWLand selectors for apparently snubbing Scotland Rivers for the Davis Cup tie against the East this weekend. So annoyed at his suggestion that a top 30 player and French Open quarter finalist was not a worthy member of the side, I decided to vent my frustrations online as any concerned fan should.

But after venturing into the Go West section of menstennisforums, I was met by a sharply divided set of comments on Mr. September's opinions. Maybe, just maybe, he might have a point. Here were a selection of these comments:

Originally Posted by john65

i actually think he has a point.rivers was really good against Blanco and was too good for some of the other guys.we need to give some of these younger players a go if we want to be up there in future years!

Originally Posted by ElMustardo

Pretty ordinary thoughts, tbh. Mustard is a Grand Slam quarter finalist and has achieved a lot more than Rivers ever has. It would be a massive gamble to put in a guy who has never beaten any one of Drake or Smeltz's quality.

Bearing in mind, of course, he did in Chennai. Nevertheless...

Originally Posted by Oxhammer

what the **** is he talking about? rivers is a hack

Originally Posted by BlancoMan

Does it really matter? Whoever wins is just gonn a get beaten by Spain so they can play whoever they want.

Originally Posted by theboot

I agree with him. Mustard will be playing doubles anyway and was so muggy against Delev at Melbourne. At least Rivers can make his own pace, whilst Mustard is just a pusher. I can't see us winning here.

In BriefCalm Rivers
Scotland Rivers moved to douse any
suggestion that media supporting his
inclusion had any effect on the
result of the recent Davis Cup tie.
"The guys playing deserve to be,
they are ranked well ahead of me.
My time will come. I'm sure that our
tennis federation won't tolerate
mediocrity forever."

Maxum Retires from Singles Tourby I.P.Freely
Jarko Maxum has today stunned nobody by announcing his retirement from all singles competition effective immediately. Maxum has said he would rather focus only on doubles in the future with his good compatriot Rob "The Lob" Bowenburg, and possibly some swingers parties when time allows.

Maxum will follow Bowenburg to each tournament the Lob contests and enthusiastically cheer from the players box, and occasionally from seats in the stands as well.

Maxum leaves the singles circuit with some good memories and few friends, but hopes that by focusing on his work with his partner he will rise to be the dominatrix he always knew he could be.

Tennis heavyweights have expressed their surprise at the shocking news of 24-year old East CWLander Jarkko Maxum's retirement from singles tennis. Maxum, ranked No. 55 in the world, sensationally announced he would focus on his doubles career on his website, and has resulted in confused reactions from the tennis world.

"He's still a young guy, so I don't know if this is injury-related or what," the outspoken Roy Daniels said as he took advantage of a chance to speak his mind to the media. "He's been through a rough patch this year, but that's nothing that couldn't have been solved by a trip to the Challenger circuit to tune up his game.

Similar surprise was expressed by three-time French Open runner up Johan Källgren. "He's one of the very good young players on clay, so it is a real shame if he's been forced to retire through injury. He's a good doubles player and will no doubt have success there, but I hope he does eventually return to the singles circuit."

Maxum will remain on the singles ranking and won't take the first real hit in his rankings until the ATP Masters Series Rome where he qualified last year. He has been named in the Davis Cup squad travelling to Spain this week.

Q. You obviously weren't really happy with that call at 5-6 in the second. What happened?
DANIJEL MICIC: It was out. I told the umpire and he said it was the linesman's call and I'd used up all my challenges, but it was out.

Q. Do you regret the way you spoke to the linesman?
DANIJEL MICIC: No, they get paid to do their job and he didn't do his job. People criticise me when I get it wrong so I don't see why he can get off when he misses a clear line call.

Q. What impact do you think that had on the match for you?
DANIJEL MICIC: I got angry and played really bad. I was in a good spot against [Oxenstierna]'s serve, but then you get a decision like that which ruins your chance. All he had to do was keep the ball in and I just made so many mistakes.

Q. He played pretty well in that third set, though.
DANIJEL MICIC: He played okay, but all the pressure was off at that point. That is what makes me so mad because if I don't get angry, I think I'm playing better tennis and win the match. I lose my concentration, and he just plays his natural game not hitting winners. It is disappointing for me.

[...]

FastScripts by ASAP Sports....

March 18, II

D. COWAN/R. Daneu

6-1, 7-6(4)

An interview with:

DARCY COWAN

[...]

Q. So what is the difference between playing a guy like Daneu and Jefferson Drake who you have this Saturday?
DARCY COWAN: They're totally different players. Apart from Daneu being a left-hander, he likes to try to frustrate you and gets killer angles on his shots. He's got a pretty good all round game, so you have to play really well to beat him every time you play him. Drake is kind of different because you can play well and just not go close to him. He's got a style where he blows guys off the court, but that can also play against him if he's not really on.

Q. Can you do anything to make him 'not be on'?
DARCY COWAN: All I can do is play my game and hope I can put pressure on him early. I played real well against Daneu today at the start so if I can do the same on Saturday then I think I'm in a good position. He likes to dictate the play and play aggressive, so I've just got to take it back to him and hopefully we'll put on a good show.

[...]

Q. You've only dropped the one set this week to Rob Bowenburg in the second round. How did you bounce back from that?
DARCY COWAN: I was pretty nervous in my first match here and he played really good tennis. He hits it hard and I probably gave him a few too many chances and he took them. I like to think I play pretty well here, but my form hasn't been great and I was disappointed with how I was beaten here last year. But that gave me some confidence, and sometimes tough first matches are real important.

With just two career titles between them, fifth and sixth seeds Darcy Cowan and Sven Oxenstierna this Sunday do battle in the Indian Wells final for their first PTA Masters Series title. Oxenstierna is fighting to shake his tag as a choker on the big stage, whilst Cowan looks for his first title on home soil.

It really amazing that following this week, these two players will both be ranked inside the world's top five yet one of them will have just one title under their belt. In their first career meeting, it is probably Cowan who takes in the edge having proven himself on the big arena with his one and only triumph coming on the grandest stage of them all at Wimbledon. Half a year on, Cowan has been unable to add to that trophy cabinet and competes in his first final of the season after semi finals in San Jose and Dubai.

Oxenstierna, meanwhile, also has appeared in a Grand Slam final. He took a set off World No. 2 Daniel Páez Blanco, but was thrashed in the third and fourth sets in his first appearance in the round of two. His one title came in Tokyo where he beat Jefferson Drake, but for the most part his ranking is propped up by his consistent showings that have seen him make semi finals at the Tennis Masters Cup and Indian Wells, and a final in Clowich. His record in finals, however, is 1-3 and he will hope to rectify that against a younger opponent and a hostile crowd.

The two meet for the first time tomorrow, and it is Cowan who comes in on the back of arguably better form having dropped just one set this week. He came from a set down to beat Rob Bowenburg 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 before taking out Antonio Bachunelli, Jojo Mustard and defending champion Radivoj Daneu in straight sets. He followed it up yesterday by blitzing Jefferson Drake in the first set tiebreaker and then rolling him in the second 7-6(0), 6-2.

Oxenstierna, meanwhile, has had it tougher. He accounted for countryman Scotland Rivers in straight sets before being made to work through sticky situations against Morgan Carter, Danijel Micic, Becker Haas and then Jason Hall. Four three-setters in a row cannot be easy for him, especially coming into the best-of-five finale.

The PTA announced at the start of the season that all Masters Series 1000 finals would come in line with the World Tour Finals by having a five-set conclusion to the tournaments, and Indian Wells plays host to the first one. Cowan has spent more than three hours less time on court than Oxenstierna and should be able to outlast him as this one goes the journey.

Oxenstierna will keep it close, but look for Cowan to show he's the real deal in five.